On a different topic, do you ever deal with people who have FMS/CFS/ME-like symptoms? If so, in your experience are these sometimes down to past familial events? Are they treatable from that perspective? And what about the case where a person is the first in their lineage to experience something and is suffering from the consequences right now? Do you think you would be able to prevent its transmission to succeeding generations?

Have you investigated Lyme Disease? My mom had fibromyalgia / chronic fatigue prior to my birth... then I had early arthritis and was diagnosed with ankylosing spondilitis. Had my hips replaced at age 28. Our whole family tested positive for Lyme disease and after some long courses of doxycycline we got rid of it. It was very difficult though, and it is even more difficult to find a doctor who will do long course antibiotic treatment. The doctor who treated us had started testing more and more people for Lyme disease and found that many people with FMS/CFS/ME as well as auto-immune diseases tested positive for Lyme and responded well to antibiotic treatment.

We could start a new thread on this if you or anyone else is interested in discussing it more.

The long-term safety and effectiveness of the process is very important for us, especially as we delve deeper into consciousness beyond human scale. We use several tools to evaluate the outcomes. On an annual basis, we survey clients to solicit feedback on their experience with us and the impact on their intentions for the work. We provide free aftercare for anyone having an adverse reaction. We keep in contact with past clients through personal contact. We engage in supervision with our peer colleagues and conduct internal evaluation processes when we encounter difficult cases.

About extended consciousness and ADC (or even, IADC), I see it this way:

A consciousness (an event, or novelty for instance) exists as though in a vast array of influence, at least some of which must necessarily be exact to the realized consciousness. Okay, now. Some of this exactitude is inherent to the awareness it promulgates, so, to engage the awareness engages also its fostering exactitude. This promulgation knows nothing at all at all of a person's death; neither does it knows anything at all at all of a person's boundaries. The whole of any awareness is engaged - even in real, measurable time - across a vast array of lives.

So, with all manner of Skeptiko events the non-locality of consciousness is the primary star. It is a great compliment to Skeptiko that such a teasing apart of what totally bamboozles hard-liners is an actual and recurring focus. But anyhow, consciousness is inherently non-local, so it makes entirely realistic sense to think of great-grancestors as present and efficacious.

Have you investigated Lyme Disease? My mom had fibromyalgia / chronic fatigue prior to my birth... then I had early arthritis and was diagnosed with ankylosing spondilitis. Had my hips replaced at age 28. Our whole family tested positive for Lyme disease and after some long courses of doxycycline we got rid of it. It was very difficult though, and it is even more difficult to find a doctor who will do long course antibiotic treatment. The doctor who treated us had started testing more and more people for Lyme disease and found that many people with FMS/CFS/ME as well as auto-immune diseases tested positive for Lyme and responded well to antibiotic treatment.

We have worked with many clients with Lyme. The results are not as positive as with anxiety, depression or relationship issues. I estimate about 60% of the Lyme patients who come to us experience remission.

In one memorable session, I represented the Lyme bacteria and it presented this message to the client: If you won't, I will. The client took a few moments to grasp the meaning. Within three months, her symptoms retreated.

Ninshub

Just a word to say that some psychodynamic (and possibly other) therapy models recognize the reality of intergenerational trauma - not through epigenetics, but through "ordinary" psychological means (traumatized parent-to-child interactions and the greater social context), often referencing attachment theory. See this article for example.

I agree , Alex. Until I met a real medium in person, I was clearly skeptical of all mediums. I met Marla Frees in Nashville five years ago at Whitley Strieber's annual conference. We met outside at a picnic table. I didn't know her and she certainly didn't know me. During the course of a brief conversation, she told my son and me a few things which she had no way of knowing. I requested a reading from her a couple of months later. I didn't want to communicate with dead people. My Dad, however, came through and I was convinced enough that it was him. He gave some advice which seemed clear and coherent. My question to Marla after our session ended was this. Even though this was my Dad, how am I to know that his perspective is any more accurate than mine?
Marla is a great interviewer as a guest host on Whitley Strieber's Unknown Country. She, also, interviewed Eben Alexander before his book was published. She's someone that you might consider as a guest here. I guess my question is, who do we know we are talking to and how much credence can we give to the information we receive?

This promulgation knows nothing at all at all of a person's death; neither does it knows anything at all at all of a person's boundaries. The whole of any awareness is engaged - even in real, measurable time - across a vast array of lives.

I also like where Dan and Emily are coming from with regard to 3 kinds/aspects of consciousness: 1. embodied 2. ancestral 3. spiritual. all consciousness may ultimately be one consciousness, but we might experience it as these three different kinds of consciousness.

What an educational thread this has been. I participated in a family constellation some ten years ago and am only realizing through my attempts to formulate an opinion, how much harm this session has done. This is not a reflection of the work, but the lack of skill the therapist involved had.

I am impressed with Dan and Emily’s dedication and knowledge level, their acknowledgment that adverse reactions do happen, and their follow up work.

In my case the scenario was abstract, did not lead to any meaningful answers and brought up a lot of fears I had to deal with on my own. Both the therapist who referred me to this work and the therapist doing the work were not willing to support me in processing the adverse reactions.

Eighteen months ago I engaged in a series of mediumship readings that brought light to the dark secret my family is hiding and perpetuated through both ancestral lines for several generations. I have no conscious memory of anything happening to me; however carried the symptoms of PTSD since infancy.

The PTSD did not stem from any physical trauma, but the daily violations that were required to keep a victim quiet, doubting her own experience and crush every attempt to have a voice and the pain validated.

Needless to say talk therapy produced few meaningful changes and more often than not triggered new violations, when I dared to suggest that the therapist was on the wrong track or simply a certain approach was not working for me. The same pattern played out with energy healers, practitioners of traditional or alternative medicine and any relationship I got into, be it personal or professional.

The mediumship readings have shown to be a turning point in my life, where I am no longer fighting unseen forces, understand what happened, and was able to start the forgiveness and healing process.

To answer Alex’s question: yes, psychotherapy does need to change to bring in a form of after-death communication. Frankly, I don’t care what you call it and if these are truly dead relatives or just an energetic field that affects us. I learned firsthand how unprocessed trauma is passed down generations and the charges are sitting in our bodies or energetic fields and play out ad nauseam until we get the message and process them.

My caveat to all this is good risk management. Harm does happen when a therapist, energy worker or medium does not understand what he or she is dealing with or simply brings unprocessed baggage into a session. Both Dan and Emily seem to understand this and are impressing with the knowledge and care in this forum.

What an educational thread this has been. I participated in a family constellation some ten years ago and am only realizing through my attempts to formulate an opinion, how much harm this session has done. This is not a reflection of the work, but the lack of skill the therapist involved had.

I am impressed with Dan and Emily’s dedication and knowledge level, their acknowledgment that adverse reactions do happen, and their follow up work.

In my case the scenario was abstract, did not lead to any meaningful answers and brought up a lot of fears I had to deal with on my own. Both the therapist who referred me to this work and the therapist doing the work were not willing to support me in processing the adverse reactions.

Eighteen months ago I engaged in a series of mediumship readings that brought light to the dark secret my family is hiding and perpetuated through both ancestral lines for several generations. I have no conscious memory of anything happening to me; however carried the symptoms of PTSD since infancy.

The PTSD did not stem from any physical trauma, but the daily violations that were required to keep a victim quiet, doubting her own experience and crush every attempt to have a voice and the pain validated.

Needless to say talk therapy produced few meaningful changes and more often than not triggered new violations, when I dared to suggest that the therapist was on the wrong track or simply a certain approach was not working for me. The same pattern played out with energy healers, practitioners of traditional or alternative medicine and any relationship I got into, be it personal or professional.

The mediumship readings have shown to be a turning point in my life, where I am no longer fighting unseen forces, understand what happened, and was able to start the forgiveness and healing process.

To answer Alex’s question: yes, psychotherapy does need to change to bring in a form of after-death communication. Frankly, I don’t care what you call it and if these are truly dead relatives or just an energetic field that affects us. I learned firsthand how unprocessed trauma is passed down generations and the charges are sitting in our bodies or energetic fields and play out ad nauseam until we get the message and process them.

My caveat to all this is good risk management. Harm does happen when a therapist, energy worker or medium does not understand what he or she is dealing with or simply brings unprocessed baggage into a session. Both Dan and Emily seem to understand this and are impressing with the knowledge and care in this forum.

Really interesting. Thanks for sharing that. I'm also someone who has been swimming upstream my whole life, fighting unseen demons on a daily basis. And sadly, I see my children fighting these same battles. We have a couple of suicides that were surrounded by silence of course. One wonders not only about what drove those actions, but what went on before that, and before that? Whose battles am I actually fighting? They certainly have little to do with the direction I would chose in life.

Sciborg_S_Patel

Really interesting. Thanks for sharing that. I'm also someone who has been swimming upstream my whole life, fighting unseen demons on a daily basis. And sadly, I see my children fighting these same battles. We have a couple of suicides that were surrounded by silence of course. One wonders not only about what drove those actions, but what went on before that, and before that? Whose battles am I actually fighting? They certainly have little to do with the direction I would chose in life.

What an educational thread this has been. I participated in a family constellation some ten years ago and am only realizing through my attempts to formulate an opinion, how much harm this session has done. This is not a reflection of the work, but the lack of skill the therapist involved had.

I am impressed with Dan and Emily’s dedication and knowledge level, their acknowledgment that adverse reactions do happen, and their follow up work.

In my case the scenario was abstract, did not lead to any meaningful answers and brought up a lot of fears I had to deal with on my own. Both the therapist who referred me to this work and the therapist doing the work were not willing to support me in processing the adverse reactions.

Eighteen months ago I engaged in a series of mediumship readings that brought light to the dark secret my family is hiding and perpetuated through both ancestral lines for several generations. I have no conscious memory of anything happening to me; however carried the symptoms of PTSD since infancy.

The PTSD did not stem from any physical trauma, but the daily violations that were required to keep a victim quiet, doubting her own experience and crush every attempt to have a voice and the pain validated.

Needless to say talk therapy produced few meaningful changes and more often than not triggered new violations, when I dared to suggest that the therapist was on the wrong track or simply a certain approach was not working for me. The same pattern played out with energy healers, practitioners of traditional or alternative medicine and any relationship I got into, be it personal or professional.

The mediumship readings have shown to be a turning point in my life, where I am no longer fighting unseen forces, understand what happened, and was able to start the forgiveness and healing process.

To answer Alex’s question: yes, psychotherapy does need to change to bring in a form of after-death communication. Frankly, I don’t care what you call it and if these are truly dead relatives or just an energetic field that affects us. I learned firsthand how unprocessed trauma is passed down generations and the charges are sitting in our bodies or energetic fields and play out ad nauseam until we get the message and process them.

My caveat to all this is good risk management. Harm does happen when a therapist, energy worker or medium does not understand what he or she is dealing with or simply brings unprocessed baggage into a session. Both Dan and Emily seem to understand this and are impressing with the knowledge and care in this forum.

Really interesting. Thanks for sharing that. I'm also someone who has been swimming upstream my whole life, fighting unseen demons on a daily basis. And sadly, I see my children fighting these same battles. We have a couple of suicides that were surrounded by silence of course. One wonders not only about what drove those actions, but what went on before that, and before that? Whose battles am I actually fighting? They certainly have little to do with the direction I would chose in life.

Really interesting. Thanks for sharing that. I'm also someone who has been swimming upstream my whole life, fighting unseen demons on a daily basis. And sadly, I see my children fighting these same battles. We have a couple of suicides that were surrounded by silence of course. One wonders not only about what drove those actions, but what went on before that, and before that? Whose battles am I actually fighting? They certainly have little to do with the direction I would chose in life.

In my experience the important piece is processing the emotions. This is why mindfulness meditation works. One just sits with whatever arises and does not judge it as good or bad. I understood early on that my family only played out the behavior they learned from their parents, that they were victims too. Unfortunately, an intellectual understanding alone did not help me process the pain, especially when I could not name that pain.

One tool that proofed invaluable was The Book of Forging by Desmond Tutu. This has nothing to do with any religious doctrine, but a man who had to process a lot of trauma himself, learned what forgiveness really is, in small daily interactions as well as trauma, and produced tools that work.

In hindsight, it is not important to know what happened, processing whatever emotions arise is key. However, I needed the intellectual understanding to hold onto, because without it I felt lost.

Yes, you are correct. Another way of looking at it might be that I was not emotionally mature enough to process the information back then. There has always been a big gap between my ability to intellectually understand something vs. emotionally process it. The former is an adult the later was still stuck in childhood. Welcome to the world of the intellectually gifted with a learning disability.